Can Barack Obama save the two-state solution?

11:31 AM,
Mar. 21, 2013

President Barack Obama smiles during his speech at the Jerusalem Convention Center in Jerusalem, Israel, on March 21, 2013.

Written by

E.J. DIONNE JR.,

The administration has set expectations for President Obama's trip to Israel so low you'd think he was making another visit to Ohio. Yet this is a very consequential journey because it comes at a moment when hopes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are fading away.

In setting foot on Israeli soil for the first time since he became president, Obama cannot suddenly spark productive talks between the two sides. But these two days are essential to improving the president's standing within the middle ground of Israeli opinion. This, in turn, could restore his ability to ...